YOUR BIG DAY IS HERE MAX!!!

Happy Birthday Maxwell Bennett McKinley!

You certainly beat the odds...and not only are you surviving, but you are going to be thriving my lil' miracle man!!! :)

Wow, it is absolutely incredible to think of what you have endured this first year of your life. And yet here you are...being absolutely amazing and working so hard every day to achieve what comes so easily to others. You are inspiring to not only me, but to so many others around the world. Your inner strength and determined spirit is beyond any of us!

In just a few hours it will be the official one year anniversary of your birth. After nearly a month on hospital bed rest, you finally decided you had enough and you arrived at 1:52 p.m. after 13 excruciating hours of labor. I guess you wanted to make sure that I knew right away you were going to be a little on the "high maintenance" side of life! But every minute of that pain was worth it! And you have certainly has endured far worse, so you won't hear me complaining.

I remember being so absolutely terrified when you were born Maxwell...there were at least 15 medical professionals in the room waiting for your arrival. They were anticipating some respiratory issues because of your early arrival, but we didn't know about anything else yet.

You didn't make a peep when you were delivered, and I remember so vividly asking the dreaded question..."Is my baby alive?" I have tears in my eyes just thinking about it. They were working so hard to get you to breathe and didn't answer me right away. They immediately intubated you and rushed you to the ICU.

We didn't realize at the time just how sick you were...we thought it was "just" your collapsed lung. Everything else on you looked perfect and we were so excited that you were here! Within days my world began to collapse as each of your medical conditions was discovered. It was unbelievable Maxwell...how could so many things go wrong with my perfect lil' baby? Each minute was incredibly terrifying and we never knew what was coming next.

Six long months in the hospital, numerous life threatening conditions, four terrifying surgeries, countless infections and scares in the ICU, and a million and one doctor appointments/therapy visits/clinics...and the list goes on and on and on.

Your will to live and determination to succeed is above and beyond! You are surpassing everyone's expectations and being absolutely amazing. You are one strong lil' kiddo!

Later today I will be posting a new video "montage" that chronicles this crazy roller coaster of a first year. Hope your fan club enjoys! When you are older someday, we will watch it together and I can guarantee I will be holding you close and there will be many tears!

I love you my precious miracle. God brought us together, I feel that in my heart and soul. And I promise you that I will do everything I possibly can to give you all the best in life! You certainly deserve it!

Now let's go have a fabulous day of celebration!!! :)